Soft
by castiel52
Summary: Eggsy never realized how intimate holding someone's hand would be. tags: soulmate AU, red string of fate, alive!Harry Hart, Hartwin


**AN:** Ahaha. Sorry but not really. I've been inactive for so long and here I am giving you Hartwin. xD

Originally posted on my AO3 account. Will be uploading all the others here soon. Peace out, bitches. ^^v :P

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 **Soft**

Eggsy's earliest memory of the red string around his wrist was when he was four. He remembers pulling at it sometimes, tangling himself now and then, only to have the string unwrap from his little body. He asked his parents about it who were surprised but pleased at the same time, because it meant that Eggsy had a soulmate, that one person that was meant just for him and no one else.

Eggsy didn't understand then, but he was told that it would be explained to him at some point, that he just had to wait until he got older. So he did. He waited.

Then his dad never came home.

He never really found out what that string was for.

He's heard whispers, of course, of soulmates and red string of fate and forever and he thought that all of those were bullshit. Soulmates weren't real, neither was forever. Everything ends, everybody dies, but people were still hopeful.

He never truly paid attention to all the bullshit people whispered about.

It wasn't even hard to forget about that.

Eggsy was only seven and a half when he met a man who's probably in his late twenties with a red string tied to his wrist as well. He remembered staring at it, wondering why it was the only time he ever saw another string besides his.

He forgot everything about that as well, though, as he stared into warm brown eyes as a soft voice told him to take care of his mum. Something felt odd about how the man was looking at him, so he ignored it as he took the medal.

He couldn't even remember the man's face anymore.

Eggsy is now twenty four and he knows he's fucked. He was pissed and wanted to get back at Dean's goons and now he's going to prison. The number he called was shit and now no one will be there to protect his baby sister, his whole _world_. He should have called his mum or one of his mates to tell them to take care of Rian.

But then the door opens and the officer is telling him that he's free to go.

When he gets out of the station, still bewildered by his sudden luck, he hears a voice that gets his attention. His gaze is instantly drawn by the red string wrapped around the man's wrist. The man is probably in his mid or late forties, he doesn't really know.

And then the man tells him that he's the one who got him released and if he would care for a lift home and promptly walks away, as if he knows Eggsy will follow.

Eggsy finds himself walking behind the man.

Watching Harry fight is _amazing_. The older man looks like he's dancing, as if he's moving to a tune that only he hears and only he can follow. Dean's goons never really stood a chance. It feels like Harry is making a show out of it, as if he's showing off to an audience.

Eggsy hopes that the show is for him alone.

But then the bar owner gets out from the back room, sees the mess and moves to get the phone. Harry does something on his watch and suddenly the bar owner is falling, and then he does the same to Eggsy but he _swears_ he wouldn't say a thing.

So Harry lets him go.

Kingsman is... odd, for the lack of a better word. Most of his co-candidates are pricks, some just don't care while the smallest percentage are the only nice ones—namely Roxy and Amelia (may her soul rest in peace).

He contemplates actually giving Charlie and his friends a good beating, because he knows he's better than they are when it comes to hand to hand combat, but then he thinks of Harry and stops himself. He really doesn't want to disappoint the man.

Harry gets himself into a fucking coma. On the outside, Eggsy is calm, albeit worried. On the inside, Eggsy is screaming and he seriously wants to punch something because he's really scared that Harry would never wake up. Because it was then that he realized that perhaps he's falling in love with one Harry Hart. Sometimes, he just wants to cry and just be miserable by Harry's bedside, wait until he wakes up so that Eggsy's face is the first one he'll see.

But Merlin tells him to make Harry proud. So he does.

The train test, if Eggsy's being completely honest, was scary as fuck. Don't get him wrong, of course he'd be willing to die rather than say anything, but it was still scary as fuck and really, he didn't want to die without telling Harry that he's in love with him. But watching Charlie start talking about Kingsman and Arthur being thoroughly pissed was awesome. What made it even more awesome is the fact that he'll be spending twenty-four hours with Harry. Life couldn't get better than that.

Then of course, Eggsy spoke too soon. He failed the final test, had a fight with Harry, and then the prick just had to get himself shot. And then he finds out that Arthur is a fucking traitor and he really should have shot the bastard when he had the chance.

Oh, and the world is ending.

After saving the world, Eggsy feels simply exhausted. The offer Princess Tilde has given has been politely declined by the young man, simply because he's tired as fuck and it feels pretty odd to have sex with someone when the love of his life just died. Besides, it isn't fair on the princess, to be used like that. So he gets his kiss and a talk about his feelings on top of that.

Then Merlin calls almost half an hour later, a strain in his voice as he tells him that Harry's _alive_.

And Eggsy doesn't know what to do, so he just says that he has to leave, his movements shaky and stiff and just all around odd. And somehow, he thinks, the princess understands as she gives him a soft smile as he stands and finally walks out of her bunk.

Harry's been in a coma for almost two weeks now and everybody says that he's getting better, that for some who got shot in the head, he's recovering rather quickly. But Eggsy wants the man awake. He wants to see Harry's beautiful, warm brown eyes looking at him with pride, because he just saved the world, even if he didn't pass the final test, he's still as much Kingsman material as the other agents who survived the almost apocalypse.

So Eggsy waits, not leaving Harry's bedside except to check on his mum and his little Rian, after getting them away from Dean.

He knows he should probably help with the cleanup, but he knows he won't be able to do anything right with Harry in his mind.

Thankfully, Merlin is fine with him staying with Harry.

It is a week later when Harry wakes.

Eggsy has just come back from getting something to snack on because he felt hungry earlier but didn't want to waste time eating somewhere that doesn't have Harry in it.

He sits on his usual seat, right beside Harry's when he starts to feel odd, as if someone's watching him. When he looks up, he almost drops his food as his green-blue-grey orbs meet warm brown, slowly blinking at him.

Suddenly he feels like he can't breathe, as if all the air has been sucked out of his lungs.

"Harry?" He whispers as he slowly puts his food down on the table beside Harry's bed. He reaches his hands out, slowly, one hand going to Harry's hand, the other wanting to touch the other man's face, then he pauses, just when he's about to touch Harry's skin, as if he's afraid that his touch is unwelcome.

For the first time in a very, _very_ long while, the string wrapped around his wrist catches his eye. It takes him a while to realize that it actually connects to one Harry Hart.

Eggsy looks up to stare at Harry's eyes which are wary and tired and resigned all at once. Eggsy's still not sure what it actually means, but he remembers the whispers and giggles of soulmates and forever when he was younger and he lets his hands reach their desired destination—Harry's hand and his cheek.

Eggsy never realized how intimate holding someone's hand could be. Until now, that is.

Harry's hand is soft with some calluses here and there, obviously from all the training and fighting he has had. It's warm, warmer than what Eggsy imagined it would be and it fits _perfectly_ with his own smaller hand.

He doesn't realize that he has been staring at their joined hands, where the strings around their wrists meet, until he feels Harry weakly squeeze his hand, diverting his attention from their hands to Harry's hopeful face. And right there and then, Eggsy realizes that this is it, this is his forever.

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 **AN:** Go check out my Hartwin account on Tumblr, alright? === babyunwinhart


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